Melania Trump's all-white ensemble raises questions at the State of the Union

Not only did first lady Melania Trump garner attention when she broke with long-standing tradition by arriving to the State of the Union separately from the president on Capitol Hill on Tuesday night, but her outfit also sparked speculation across social media about whether she was quietly making a political statement.

When the first lady, wearing a white two-piece suit and white shirt, took her seat ahead of the president's address, many on Twitter wondered if her choice of dress was a nod to women's rights or a sartorial tongue-in-cheek move to stoke speculation. Traditionally, women in the suffragette movement were encouraged to wear white as a symbol of the movement.

Last year, when Trump addressed his first joint session of Congress shortly after his inauguration, Democratic lawmakers like Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wore white in support of women's rights, saying it was "in spite" of a president that didn't.

The all-white look was adopted as a political statement again during the Grammys this past Sunday.

This wouldn't be the first time the first lady has used fashion as a nod to the larger political conversation. Following the October 2016 release of the so-called "Access Hollywood" tape, in which the president can be heard making vulgar remarks about grabbing women, Melania Trump showed up to a presidential debate in a pussy bow blouse.But the Trump women have wielded white before. Both Ivanka and Tiffany Trump both wore white to President Trump's inauguration in January 2017.